A sociolinguistic investigation of professional mobility and multicultural healthcare communication

Abstract

This chapter examines healthcare communication in multicultural contexts, using Hong Kong and Chile as examples. In contrast to previous research on medical communication in such contexts which primarily focuses on communication with patients of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the chapter explores diversity among medical professionals. Due to mostly socioeconomic factors, professional mobility in healthcare has been on the increase in the last few decades. In both Hong Kong and Chile the governments and healthcare institutions have implemented various measures to meet the shortfall of medical personnel, including attracting migrant medical professionals1. Improved socioeconomic conditions as a result of a move overseas often come with hurdles, such as a typically required period of extensive re-training followed by stringent professional exams, and social and cultural adaptation to new working and living environments. To explore these issues, we draw on semi-structured interviews with medical professionals who have received their professional training in one country, and relocated to another country (Hong Kong or Chile) afterwards. We begin by discussing the idea that participants’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds may not always be an issue in communication, that is, they do not necessarily hinder communication, unless participants themselves actively orient to their different backgrounds in an on-going interaction. Then, using interactional sociolinguistics, we examine how the migrant medical professionals reflect on the intersections of healthcare systems, cultures and practices, and the challenges that the transitions overseas have brought to them, focusing in particular on the impact that differences in the professional cultures of these doctors may have on their integration processes. In this context, we show how the sociopragmatic resources related to the norms of various communities that the migrant doctors become part of play a vital role in facilitating their transitions. We finish the chapter by suggesting future research avenues to triangulate our findings but also to advance our knowledge in the field of professional transitions through the lens of applied linguistics.